Naughton Named to Wooden Award Preseason List

Los Angeles (October 5, 2010)— The Los Angeles Athletic Club has announced its Women’s Preseason Top 30 list; the men’s list was released yesterday. The women’s list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.

Connecticut’s Maya Moore, the 2009 Wooden Award winner and a 2008 and 2010 Wooden All American, returns to lead her team as a senior. She is looking to become only the second four-time Wooden All American pick after averaging 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a year ago for the undefeated Huskies. Ogwumike, the 2010 Pac-10 Player of the Year, averaged 18.5 ppg and 9.9 rpg a year ago for Stanford.

Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 35th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, a special tribute to Coach Wooden and Wooden Award founder Duke Llewellyn, and the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 8-10, 2011.

Six schools, all perennial top programs at the national level, had two players chosen to the Preseason List: Connecticut (Moore, Tiffany Hayes); North Carolina (Jessica Breland, Italee Lucas); Ohio State (Jantel Lavender, Samantha Prahalis–both Wooden Award ballot picks in 2010); Stanford (Ogwumike, Kayla Pedersen); Tennessee (Angie Bjorklund, Shekenna Stricklen); and Xavier (Ta’Shia Phillips, Amber Harris).

The ACC and Big East each had five players named to the preseason Top 30. The Big 12, Big 10, Pac-10 and SEC each had three selections, followed by the Atlantic 10 and CAA with two, and the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and West Coast with one. Only four sophomores made the list: Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne, Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame.

2010-11 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 List, Women

Name Height Class Position University Conference

Danielle Adams 6-1 Sr. F/C Texas A&M Big 12

Kachine Alexander 5-9 Sr. G Iowa Big Ten

Angie Bjorklund 6-0 Sr. G/F Tennessee SEC

Jessica Breland 6-3 Sr. F North Carolina ACC

Elena Delle Donne 6-5 So. G/F Delaware CAA

Skylar Diggins 5-9 So. G Notre Dame Big East

Jasmine Dixon 6-0 Jr. F UCLA Pac 10

Victoria Dunlap 6-1 Sr. F Kentucky SEC

Dawn Evans 5-7 Sr. G James Madison CAA

Brittney Griner 6-8 So. C Baylor Big 12

Amber Harris 6-5 Sr. F Xavier Atlantic 10

Tiffany Hayes 5-10 Jr. G Connecticut Big East

Shenise Johnson 5-11 Jr. G Miami ACC

Jantel Lavender 6-4 Sr. C Ohio State Big Ten

Italee Lucas 5-8 Sr. G North Carolina ACC

Maya Moore*#% 6-0 Sr. F Connecticut Big East

Deirdre Naughton 5-10 Sr. G DePaul Big East

Nnemkadi Ogwumike* 6-2 Jr. F Stanford Pac 10

Kayla Pedersen 6-4 Jr. F Stanford Pac 10

Ta’Shia Phillips 6-6 Sr. C Xavier Atlantic 10

Samantha Prahalis 5-7 Jr. G Ohio State Big Ten

Lauren Prochaska 5-11 Sr. G/F Bowling Green Mid-American

Chastity Reed 6-1 Sr. F Arkansas Little-Rock Sun Belt

Danielle Robinson 5-9 Sr. G Oklahoma Big 12

Sugar Rodgers 5-11 So. G Georgetown Big East

Shekinna Stricklen 6-2 Jr. G/F Tennessee SEC

Helena Sverrisdottir 6-1 Sr. G/F TCU Mountain West

Carolyn Swords 6-6 Sr. C Boston College ACC

Jasmine Thomas 5-9 Sr. G Duke ACC

Courtney Vandersloot 5-8 Sr. G Gonzaga West Coast

(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)

*indicates player chosen to the 2010 Wooden All American Team)

#indicates player was 2009 Wooden Award winner)

% indicates player chosen to the 2008 Wooden All American Team)